A little more than a week out from his scheduled co-main event bout
with Mark
Munoz, Chael Sonnen
was thrown a curveball when Michael
Bisping stepped in to replace the injured “Filipino Wrecking
Machine.”

As it turned out, Bisping gave Sonnen all he could handle in their
UFC
on Fox 2 bout at the United Center in Chicago on Saturday
night.

“Michael Bisping hit me so hard in the first round I didn’t even
know what day it was,” Sonnen said during the post-fight press
conference. “I remember when I came to, looking at him and
thinking, ‘Oh my God you have no idea how bad you’ve hurt me or
you’d step in and do something about it.’”

The outspoken middleweight kept his wits about him enough to take
home a unanimous decision against the Brit, however. All three
judges scored it for Sonnen: 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28, giving the
Team Quest representative his fifth victory in six fights.

Sonnen was able to land takedowns in all three rounds, but Bisping
was able to get his feet and often controlled the action against
the cage.

“I was never in a position tonight where I was comfortable, not
one,” Sonnen said. “It was 15 awkward minutes. I got him down on
the ground, and he’d throw a hook in, blocking me. As soon as I
[would] create a space, he pushed away [and] popped up.”

The first two rounds were closely contested, but it was in the
final frame that Sonnen did his best work. The 34-year-old took
Bisping down early in the round, took his back and attempted to
secure a rear-naked choke. Unlike the first 10 minutes, Sonnen was
able to maintain his dominant position for the majority of the
stanza, moving to full mount and landing body punches and
elbows.

Sonnen was aware that a final surge was essential to winning the
fight.

“I knew we were in the middle of a close fight. I knew I needed to
win the third round. I had a sense of urgency for sure; I think we
both did,” he said.

As they awaited the final ruling, neither fighter was completely
confident of what decision the judges would render.

“I said, ‘Hey what do you think?’ He said. ‘I don't know, I think I
got the first two.’ And I said, ‘I think you might be right,’”
Sonnen recalled. “That doesn't mean I disagree with the judges.
They were close rounds.”

With the win, Sonnen earns a rematch with middleweight champion
Anderson
Silva, who submitted him with a triangle armbar at UFC 117. The
No. 1 contender remains skeptical that the fight will happen.

“I know I’ll do my part in that. Do I think that he’ll sign the
fight? No, I don't. We'll see. I’ve been wrong before. The one
thing [the UFC] haven’t revealed is they’ve offered him the fight
four times, and he’s said no four times,” Sonnen said.
“Mysteriously he’s supposed to accept on the fifth.”

Regardless of what happens with Silva down the road, Sonnen has
plenty of respect for Bisping.

“I can assure you, having fought him and the alleged champion, he
could win the title today if they gave him his opportunity,” he
said.

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